A 12 month longitudinal study of selenium status in older Tasmanian adults

TL;DRAbstract

Selenium is known to be important in many areas ofhealth, including the immune system and in antioxidantfunction. Suboptimal selenium status in the elderlyappears common, and this may be particularly importantas immune function decreases and risk of chronic andother disease increases. Few medium-term longitudinalstudies of selenium status have been reported.ObjectiveTo determine the magnitude of variation in seleniumstatus over 12 months in older adults, in a populationwhich many have marginal selenium status.DesignA 12 month longitudinal, observational study of seleniumstatus was conducted in older Tasmanians. Twenty threemen and 57 women (mean age 69.6 yrs) were studiedrepeatedly at 3 month intervals over 12 months; seleniumstatus was assessed by measuring dietary intake using asemi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire and serumselenium concentration using graphite furnace atomicabsorption spectroscopy.OutcomesAt baseline, men consumed 80.6 Pg, and women 62.9 Pgselenium per day,

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